Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard
5 Now I will sing for my ·friend [or beloved] a song about his vineyard [C Israel is the vineyard and God is its owner].
My ·friend [or beloved] had a vineyard
on a ·hill with very rich soil [fertile hillside].
2 He ·dug [or fenced it] and cleared the field of stones
and planted the best grapevines there.
He built a ·tower [watchtower; C for protection] in the middle of it
and ·cut [carved] out a winepress as well [C symbolizing God’s protection of Israel].
He ·hoped [expected; looked to see if] good grapes would grow there,
but ·only bad ones grew [L it produced only wild/sour grapes].
3 [C The vineyard owner now speaks:] “You ·people living in [residents/citizens of] Jerusalem,
and you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard [C the scene changes from a love song to a courtroom indictment].
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I have already done?
Although I ·expected [waited/looked for] good grapes to grow,
why ·were there [did it produce] only ·bad [sour; wild] ones?
5 Now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove the hedge,
and it will ·be burned [be purged/destroyed; or become a pasture].
I will break down the stone wall,
and it will be ·walked [trampled; C referring to the Assyrian conquest in 722 bc].
6 I will ·ruin my field [make it a wasteland; leave it untended].
It will not be ·trimmed [pruned] or hoed,
and ·weeds [briers] and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 [L For; Because] The vineyard belonging to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]
is the ·nation [L house] of Israel;
and the people of Judah
are the ·garden [vines; plants] that he ·loves [delights in].
He looked for justice, but ·there was [look; behold] only ·killing [bloodshed; or oppression; injustice; C the Hebrew words for “justice” and “killing” sound alike].
He hoped for ·right living [righteousness], but ·there were [look; behold] only ·cries of pain [cries of distress; or an outrcy; C the Hebrew words for “righteousness” and “cries of pain” sound alike].
7 God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], ·take us back [restore us].
·Show us your kindness [L Make your face shine on us; 31:16; 67:1; Num. 6:24–26] so we can ·be saved [have victory].
8 You brought ·us out of Egypt as if we were a vine [L a vine out of Egypt; Gen. 49:22; Is. 5:1–7; 27:2–6; Jer. 2:21; 12:10; Ezek. 15:1–8; 19:10–14; Hos. 10:1].
You ·forced out [dispossessed] other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the ground for us.
We took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had branches like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you ·pull [break] down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by ·steals from us [picks our fruit].
13 Like ·wild pigs [L boars of the forest] they ·walk over us [ravage us; gobble us up];
like ·wild animals [L creatures of the field] they feed on us.
14 God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], ·come back [restore us].
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this ·shoot [root] with your own hands
and strengthened this child [C the king].
4 although I might be able to put ·trust [reliance; confidence] in ·myself [human ability/effort; T the flesh]. If anyone thinks he has a reason to ·trust [rely; have confidence] in ·himself [human ability/effort; T the flesh], he should know that I have greater reason. 5 I was circumcised eight days after my birth [Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3]. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a ·Hebrew, and my parents were Hebrews [or true Hebrew; Hebrew through and through; L Hebrew of Hebrews]. With regard to the ·law of Moses [L law], I was a Pharisee [C Pharisees strictly followed the OT law and expanded on it with many traditions]. 6 ·I was so enthusiastic [L With regard to (religious) zeal,] I persecuted the church. With regard to ·obedience to the law of Moses [L righteousness based on the law] I was ·faultless [blameless]. 7 Those things were ·important [valuable; or assets] to me, but now I think they are ·worth nothing [or liabilities; L a loss] because of Christ. 8 Not only those things, but I think that all things are ·worth nothing [or liabilities; L a loss] ·compared with [or because of] the ·greatness [superior/supreme value] of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him, I have lost all those things, and now I ·know they are [consider them] ·worthless trash [garbage; refuse; excrement]. ·This allows me to have [L …so that I may gain] Christ 9 and to ·belong to [be united with; L be found in] him. ·Now I am right with God, not because I followed the law [L …not having my own righteousness from the law], but because ·I believed in Christ [of faith in Christ; or of the faithfulness of Christ]. This is the ·right relationship with [or righteousness of/from] God that comes through ·faith [or the faithfulness (of Christ)]. 10 I want to know Christ and the power ·that raised him from the dead [L of his resurrection]. I want to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death. 11 ·Then I have hope that [L …if somehow] I myself will ·be raised [reach/attain to the resurrection] from the dead.
Continuing Toward Our Goal
12 ·I do not mean [L Not] that I have already ·achieved [obtained; taken hold of] it or have already ·been perfected [become mature; or reached the goal]. But I keep ·trying [pressing forward; striving; pursuing] to ·take hold of that for which [or make it my own because] Christ ·took hold of me [or made me his own]. 13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not ·yet reached that goal [taken hold of it], but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the ·past [L things that are behind] and ·straining toward [stretching/reaching forward to] what is ahead, 14 I keep ·trying to reach [pursuing; chasing] the goal and get the prize for which God called me ·to the life above [heavenward; L upward] ·through [or in] Christ Jesus.
The Story of the Evil Farmers(A)
33 “Listen to ·this story [another parable]: There was a ·man who owned [landowner who planted] a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a ·hole [vat; pit] for a winepress and built a tower [C to protect against thieves; see Is. 5:1–7 for the background to this parable]. Then he leased the land to some [C tenant] farmers and left for a trip [C the owner represents God, the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders]. 34 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent his ·servants [slaves] to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 35 But the farmers grabbed the ·servants [slaves], beat one, killed another, and then ·killed a third servant with stones [L stoned a third]. 36 So the man sent some other ·servants [slaves] to the farmers, even more than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they had done before [C the servants represent the prophets God sent to Israel]. 37 ·So [L Finally; Last of all] the man sent his son to the farmers [C the son represents Jesus]. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him, and we will get his inheritance!’ 39 Then the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So what will the ·owner [lord] of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41 ·The priests and leaders [L They] said, “He will ·surely kill those evil men [bring those wretches/evil men to a wretched/evil end]. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time [C referring to the sinners who were responding to Jesus’ call for repentance, and eventually to the Gentiles who would be saved].”
42 Jesus said to them, “·Surely you have read [L Haven’t you ever read…?] this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone [capstone; keystone; L head of the corner; C the meaning is uncertain, but clearly refers to the most important stone in the building; Jesus is the rejected stone].
The Lord did this,
and it is ·wonderful [amazing; marvelous] ·to us [for us to see; L in our eyes; Ps. 118:22–23].’
43 “·So [For this reason; Therefore] I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to ·people [a nation] who ·do the things God wants in his kingdom [L will produce its fruit]. 44 The person who ·falls on [stumbles over] this stone will be ·broken [shattered], and on whomever that stone falls, that person will be crushed.”[a]
45 When the ·leading [T chief] priests and the Pharisees heard these ·stories [parables], they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46 They ·wanted [were seeking/trying] to arrest him, but they were afraid of the ·people [crowds], because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.